Pacia Elaine

Spoken Word Artist

Pacia Anderson is a global visionary in performance art. A St. Louis-based poet, writer, visual, and teaching artist, she uses the art of the narrative to both make sense of the world around her and to tell a good story. Her poetry is a charismatic blend of rhyme, layered imagery, and fantasy, all of which are used to explore complex subject matter. Pacia’s goal is to use her work to encourage others to find their voice.”

Anderson discovered performance art in church, where she first recited poetry by James Weldon Johnson. As she says, when they discover in a black church that you are good at something, you do it all the time! She started writing poetry in college at Southern Illinois University and became part of the burgeoning Spoken Word movement.

Because St.ART will be inclusive to both the art community and everyday people, Pacia wanted to be involved. “Today there is a bridging of the poetic divide happening all over the country–at places like Hustle and Flow, which takes place in a barber shop in the city, as well as readings hosted by elders in the poetry community, such as St. Louis’ Poet Laureate Dr. Michael Castro”, says Pacia. “ What brings us together are our commonalities. But we need to ask ourselves: Who is not at the table? Who is not included? Who can contribute? Both written and performance poetry are effective for having these types of conversations. There will be a give and take between the poets and visual artists. St.ART will also be inclusive to both artists and everyday people.”

St.ART’s non-traditional model of acquiring funding for the project was also a draw for Anderson. As she explains, it is because most non-profits go the traditional route of applying for grants and hosting local fund-raising events, whereas St.ART is not trying to fit into a model. She also is encouraged by the fact that money and awareness are being raised outside the city for the project. “People are donating funds from outside St. Louis, and that says a whole lot. There is a dual opportunity. One is that we will give the community a voice. The second is that artists will interpret what they have seen. It is usually one or the other.”

Pacia believes that art can bring people together. Her hope is that if St.ART brings less division, even if just for the weekend, it will be a success. “Realizing that we are more alike than different is the path to long term systematic change.”

Picture This

I want to shoot sound
Capture on film the steel in your will
Bottle an adventure that makes your center remember
I want to print
Your dreams

Draft the spectrum and with it
Create you in your own image
Draw from light to draw the night
He told you
You were the love of his life
I want to write
Your epic
In pixels
Preserve your body and the spirit that it serves
Your fine lines and fantastic bent curves
Record lives like the scribes of scripture

I want to make artifacts
Life maps that chart your path
Be the lines in your legend
Show you where you have been
So you will know just how far you can go
Or exactly how far you may have to
I want to photograph you

Let you hold in your hands
A moment when your whole soul expands
From the times you were nervous
To the times you were pitch perfect
All of your alternate universes
From the fringe, I want to observe them

So you can view through your finders
Those times you vibrated higher
The things to which you aspire
I want to make reminders
Like picture Post-Its of you in focus
Document your dopeness
Contain that closeness
Freeze-frame that emotion
I want to picture you
Open

Use science
To make magic
Turn your vibrance into a graphic
Put your smile on a piece of plastic
When you are tripping the light fantastic

Reel-to-reel your electromagnetic shield
Store your aura
Explore the core of your world and its auroras
Preserve your candor
In the amber of my camera
So that you can examine the
Moods and seconds
You’ve shown divine perfection
A packaged astral projection
You: The Private Collection

That space in the pause
Where you have no flaws
The void that leaves you in awe
I want to be your captain’s log

From your first star date
To your last heartache
I want to partake
In your passion
Create lasting flashbacks and

Caption your touch
Render you timeless
Record the silence at the root of your aliveness
Trap your scent
On the inside of an imprint
Label you scratch-and-sniff sticker